Beef cooked in aromatic spices and crushed black pepper is flavorful, delicious and my family’s favorite !I think, most of the Malayalee’s will feel the same way too. Traditionally, beef is marinated and cooked in charcoal oven. And water is only sprinkled to moist the meat time to time.

This preparation is a healthy, home-made version with less oil !

You can use cheap cut meat but a bit of marbling in the meat makes a lot of difference. The heat and flavor of this dish should come from  black pepper. If you want it to be less spicy, reduce the heat by reducing red chilli powder or replacing it altogether with roasted paprika. Coconut oil is best for this dish.

As always, I’ve altered the technique of cooking to speed up the process 🙂 here it’s done in two stages. You can prepare the stage one ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer according to your convenience, and finish the dish the day you wish to have it.

Preparation time : 15 mts

Cooking time : 30 mts

Serves: 4

Stage 1

Ingredients for marinade:

  • 500g beef cubed
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Marinate the beef in all the above spices and keep it in the fridge for at least an hour. If you are keeping it over night mix every thing except salt and keep it in the fridge, mixing salt to the meat when marinating will release its juices and will make the meat though while cooking.

IMG_1571.jpgresize

 

Stage 2

Other Ingredients :

  • 2 medium onion diced
  • 1″ ginger chopped
  • 5 cloves of garlic chopped ( you can add more if you like, it will only increase the taste of the meat)
  • 3 green chillies ( optional ) slit in the middle to control the heat
  • 1/4 cup curry leaves
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2 table spoon of coconut oil
  • IMG_1573.jpgresize

 

Method:  

  1. Cook the marinated beef in a pressure cooker or in a pan.
  2. IMG_1574.jpgresize Do not throw away the juices released for the meat while cooking.
  3.  At the same time you can keep another pan and heat oil. When the oil is heated add onion, ginger, garlic, green  chillies and curry leaves and saute it till soft and starts to loose colour. If you’re not in a hurry you can start with curry leaves, garlic, ginger and green chillies and slowly saute it till all the   ingredients turn light brown.
  4. IMG_1573.jpgresize
  5. Now its time to add rest of the dry spices in the same order except the black pepper and saute for a few minutes till the spices looses its pungent smell.
  6. Add in the cooked beef and water / beef stock released from the beef while cooking and cook for another 5 mts covered with a lid. If needed you can sprinkle some water time to time to avoid sticking to the pan.
  7. Dish is ready when the water evaporates and beef is well coated with spices.
  8. Switch off the fire and add in the black pepper powder.
  9.  Serve it with cooked rice or parata.

Notes:  

  • At  stage 2 if you use an iron skillet it’ll be even tastier. But then you’ll have to use more oil.
  • If you don’t have garam masala dry roast in a small pan 1/2 cinnamon stick, 5 cloves, 4 cardamoms and 1 tsp fennel seeds and grind it in a coffee grinder. Keep a separate coffee grinder for your spices otherwise your coffee will smell spices 🙂
  • You can replace the onion with small shallots to get an authentic taste.